We should never fear God's leading, even into the turbulent Jordans of our lives, for God stands behind His commands with His omnipotence. Trusting God is taking that step of faith. Trust Him today for today's step of faith.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

after practicing for weeks to move from a crawling position to sitting position .... and i was really wondering when she will be able to sit up on her own, she decided to do so the day she turned 7 months!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

the first 3 months with kaira ...... wellz ....... all i can say is that for now, i have no desire to have a repeat of that!!!

very often, i wonder why people have children?? y oh y oh y ? it really is a high calling, and not everyone's cup of tea........hahahahaha .......

for us, whose lives have been around "ourselves" suddenly, my life revolves around her and her ever changing ways!! no time for myself at all. no time to eat, to watch tv, to trade ... blah blah blah ..

if i have time, i will be surfing the net, trying to find more information about bringing up baby and the various issues!

and, there are never ending issues! so many things to find out more about ..... breastfeeding, then milk bottle feeding, burping, sleep patterns, gas, poop, bouts of crying (with no clear reason) and so forth......geeez, everyday is a new day of "discovery" -- whether good or bad!!! i really salute the mummies who have to take care of more than 1 child! where do they find the energy, patience and time? one is enuffffff for me......

and so, looking back ...... the first 3 months seem so far away .......and now i can say, thank God its over!!! at least, we are in a new phase now ...... altho not necessarily an easier phase .... hahahaha ... but at least, i think i am getting used to having her around ;)

we knew our lease will be up in jan 08 but we had taken for granted that our landlord will renew our lease as he did the last 4 years and with the birth of kaira, moving was really the last thing on our mind!

but God had other plans!

and wthin 3 months we moved twice! first out of sheung wan (as our landlord sold the apartment and there was no way we could negotiate for an extension with him or the new buyer) to Hong Kong Gold Coast and then from HKGC back to Singapore!

cos the new job offer for Hubbie took quite a long time to finalise and so, there was no option to move directly from sheung wan to singapore as we were WAITING .... and waiting and waiting! till we were left with no option but to move to a temporary place while we wait for the offer to be finalised and all the paperwork to be done!

but the short stay at HKGC (we moved in end Jan) was quite nice i muz say. a nice change from the hustle and bustle of sheung wan, although it's kind of far and remote! honestly wouldn't mind staying there if we were still in hong kong as with a child now, guess the "requirements" are different! heehee. and once we got used to the transportation options, its quite OK. not that inconvenient afterall!

but the packing and unpacking and packing .... really really grateful for hubbie who is so organised and efficient!! i think he muz have aged 10 years fr Nov 07 - Feb 08 .... hahahaha. what with a cranky wife, a young babe, difficult work situation plus the need to organise all the admin ......

and so we were back in Singapore on 6 march 08! which means kaira spent abt 2 months in sheung wan, and abt 1.5 months in HKGC.

and now, we will be moving out of SIngapore to Eindhoven on 26th June to start a new journey, a new adventure.

seems like the Lord has opened the door to bring us there.... we are praying for his will to be done. that he will guide us as He leads us there. really wondering what He has instore for us in Eindhoven??

So, here's my attempt to "capture" the past. and i will start with the most "trying" .....

Surgery for Kaira's indirect inguinal hernia condition.

when i discovered the "lump" at her groin area when she's abt 6 weeks+ -- i was very very worried! not knowing what it was and the cause and being a new parent ...... it was very worrying!

thing was when i discovered it on wed afternoon, it came and went. so i thought maybe i was hallucinating ... saw wrongly!! mebbe too tired u know what i mean??? kekeke

but the next morning, both hubbie and i saw it clearly and it was quite "large" for a baby! but kaira didn't seem to feel anything, so that was good. hubbie had to travel in to SZ to work that day, so i am left alone to "handle" this emergency .... how "nice"!!

a quick call to the PD and he mentioned something abt hernia and asked me to bring her in that morning for a check. he is the BEST PD around...hahahaha.... like i have seen other PDs!!! kekeeke...i called him ard 7+am and he picked up the phone!! love him to bits!!!! don't think i can stand another minute without speaking to a doc.

now the next challenge is how do i bring kaira to doc as hubbie is on his way to SZ for work ... and it's not like he can u-turn and come back home to bring us to the doc.

and SO, my first journey out with a month-old baby!!! i was STRESSSSSSSed.

but i guess the worry over the lump was greater. and when we were at the PD, me with my bag, carrier and baby ... another lady even commented how come i didn't have anyone to help me! for a moment i really wanted to indulge in some self-pity ;( but no time for that!!! and hey, the important part was that i made it to the PD! with baby in one piece. *Pat Pat*

when Dr Chiu mentioned the need for "surgery" .... i tell u, my heart sank ... surgery for such a young child??? so many thoughts raced through my mind.... thank God that after explanation from him, i realised the condition is not that serious although we cannot avoid surgery.

the surgeon he recommended is someone who pioneered the keyhole (lapascropy or something) surgery for such conditions and although there was an option to go through the public system which will be much cheaper, we decided to opt for the private surgeon option. and thank God we did! more on that later.

anywayz, everything then happened very fast. our appt with the surgeon was on M0nday morning and the surgery was scheduled on Saturday afternoon. and in the meantime, i tried as much as possible to minimise kaira's crying as the lump manifests itself when she exerts strength! for a baby, that's really difficult especially when she's hungry!! i muz say i was quite stressed throughout the week. everytime i see the lump, i worry it will not subside...cos the PD kept reminding me that should that happen, that's an emergency situation! aaargh.

we were praying very hard for her and the surgery as she has to fast like 8 hours before the surgery and we were really worried .... if a baby is hungry, she's hungry rite?? how to tell her she can't have her milk?

but hallelujah!! she was like a different babe that day!! she didn't cry a single bit after her morning milk feed ard 6+ am and that lasted her till 3 pm!!! (although her surgery time was slated for 2pm, the surgeon was 1 hour late).

the surgery took less than 1 hour and after care was so easy because of the lapascropy (hope i got the term correct) -- really thank God. cannot imagine if there was a wound and the baby is in pain and stuff.... think i am the one who will not be able to take it! she was like back to "normal" after 1 day!! really thank God!

but of course, the time immediatley after the surgery was quite trying. cos she's now awake and aware that she's hungry! but we can't feed her yet as need the anaesthesia to wear off, else she may throw up etc. and so i had to carry a crying baby for 1hour plus (while hubbie goes home to pack stuff as he will be staying over nite with her!). poor gal and her voice was "hoarse" and all ... so pooor thing ... really heart breaking when you hear her cry like this.

o o, i muz write about this....we are terrible parents....we actually thought we can leave her in the hospital in the care of nurses after the surgery while we "go off and rest" .... hahahaha .... how wrong! (which was what happened for her jaundice treatment).

anwayz, there was also another boy who went for the same surgery and his mum stayed overnite with him. she actually commented to me that she was surprised it was DADDY who stayed overnite and not mummie!! hee hee ... to us, i think the choice was clear!! i have yet to reach the stage where i can take care of her alone..... ;) *Pat pat to SuperHero Papa -- you are the best!!!*

and so that was how our 10th wedding anniversary (on 10th jan) went -- worrying for her surgery cos it was scheduled on the 12th!!

but praise God everything was very smooth and she was really in very good hands!! we couldn't have asked for more. and he also provided financially for this surgery as insurance covered most of the expenses!! hallelujah!!!!

since kaira's arrival .... other than posting her pictures, i hardly write. and honestly, there's so much that has happened in the last 7 months that i thought i'd better jot down some quick thoughts before they are "lost" .....

must say that first 3 months was a really trying time for both me and weng5. collectively, we lost more than 20kgs in terms on weight!! i lost about 15 kgs and he 6kgs.... that is testimony of how tough things were!!

looking back, i can say that kaira wasn't a "difficult" baby to handle...but as we were first time parents with no family help/support in a foreign land (except for a (not so helpful) confinement lady in the first month) .... it really was a really difficult time for me!!! and i can imagine how much more stressed poor hubbie was as he had to juggle work and home at the same time!

on many ocassions, i really wanted to ask for a refund - lol - *kokz* - wake up weiz!!!

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About Me

Singaporean whose overseas living adventure begun in Hong Kong in 2004; Arrived in the Netherlands in 2008. But, I am glad to announce that since Nov 2011, we are back in HOT Singapore! Nothing beats home :)